Tuesday Tips: 8 Ways to Feel Your Way Out of Pain

All problems can be solved with a little love and light. As corny as it sounds, more hugs and "I love yous" and less criticism and effort can bring you faster and more permanent relief than any pharmaceutical drug.

1. Have a hug quota!
Family therapist Virginia Satir says, "We need 4 hugs a day for survival. We need 8 hugs a day for maintenance. We need 12 hugs a day for growth." Hug your partner more, hug your friends more, hug your family more. It feels so good and it's such good medicine.

2. Play the game "You Spot It, You Got It."
Everything you observe in your reality is a part of you whether you like it or not. When you notice success, you become more successful. When you call someone ugly, you become more ugly yourself. Kelly and I were looking at a celeb photo gallery of Kim Kardashian and I noticed we were starting to trash her. "You spot it, you got it!" I exclaimed. So we started looking for things we liked about the photos. When we didn't have anything nice to say about Kim, we complimented the environment or the composition of the photo. It's a much more fun scavenger hunt that cutting down people out of jealousy.

3. Try this mantra: "I love you too."
Some weird glitch in the matrix caused a text message from my friend to get resent over and over about 20 times the past few days. But lucky for me, the text said, "I love you too!" Kelly and I started saying it to each other all the time for no reason, and it was fun! Then we started saying about people we've had drama with, and strangers on the street. No matter who it is or what they've done, shoot a little telepathic "I love you too" to them and feel yourself and the world healing.

4. Try this mantra: "I give up."
Ever find yourself trying way too hard, or wanting something too badly? Just give up and let yourself be carried away by the flow. When you stop trying and resisting, life will bring the solution.

5. In pain? Try to just "feel" it.
I had a headache and was trying everything to get rid of it. Eckhart Tolle and Deepak Chopra often suggest just "feeling" the pain because there is no pain in the Now. If you just place your attention on the pain, the light of your consciousness will dissolve it. So I tried it with my headache, and realized that I've been afraid to feel my pain because my mind doesn't know how to "solve" it. But I felt the pain and said, "It's ok, I love you no matter what." I just sat there, feeling the pain. It stopped hurting, and within minutes my headache dissolved.

6. Tell everything in your reality, "I love and accept you exactly the way you are."
Use this technique to bring your attention to the Now and project a vibration of love. Pet your cat and say "I love and accept you exactly the way you are." Say it to the lamp, to the walls, to your shower curtain. Take the time to truly appreciate what's right in front of your eyes.

7. Practice feeling deserving.
Louise Hay provides this excellent exercise in You Can Heal Your Life. Look in the mirror and say, "I deserve to be or have __________ and I accept it now." Pay attention to how you feel--do you feel accepting, or unworthy? If you feel unworthy, say, "I release the pattern in my consciousness that is creating resistance to my good. I deserve _________." Do this exercise every day until you start feeling truly accepting, and open up to receiving your good!

8. When you sit down to meditate, ask, "What is it I need to know?"
This is another idea from You Can Heal Your Life. Ask right as you begin your session, and then quietly and patiently wait for the answer. If it doesn't come while you're sitting don't worry--it will come eventually.